Officer shot this morning; manhunt reaches Virginia Tech campus

[wakeme2008]

http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/79080

Picture of Morva.

Officer shot this morning; manhunt reaches Virginia Tech campus
Hospital shooting suspect still sought as second shooting incident occurs just after 7 a.m.

By Amy L. Kovac, Angela Manese-Lee, Matt Gentry and Shay Barnhart
William Morva mug

William Morva is suspected of the fatal shooting Sunday of a hospital guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital. A deputy sheriff was also shot at the hospital. This police mug shot was taken after a previous arrest.


UPDATED 10:42 a.m.
The Montgomery County Courthouse in Christiansburg is closed until further notice in connection with the hunt for William Morva, county spokesman Robert Parker confirmed. Police from multiple agencies continue to search sections of Virginia Tech campus and Blacksburg for Morva.


..more at link...

this is an ongoing situation.

This is the first day of classes and they started classes with this man on the loose just outside of campus.

[WestHoustonDem]

1. My niece is there - and safe

They are in lockdown. Luckily she has a little food that her grandmother sent her back to school with.

[DemoTex]

2. My next-door neighbors' daughter is a senior at VT.

She just went back to school on Saturday. No word from my neighbors on whether they have heard from her yet. Fortunately, she has a couple of roommates.

[wakeme2008]

3. One of my ex-Tech workers was going crazy this morning

They sent them to first day classes this morning... It was only after he shot the second person they locked down the campus.

[ernstbass]

4. They have the guy in custody.

I live in Blacksburg and it has been a madhouse - I have never seen so many cops in this town. The deputy who was shot this am has twin 8 yr old daughters. they apprehended the guy on the lacrosse feild on the Tech campus - I'm amazed they didn't shoot him on the spot. This was a well planned escape.

[Virginia Dare]

5. Glad you're safe now ernst....

so sorry about the loss of the two others....

[ContraBass Black]

6. I don't think he meant to escape.

He got to the Huckleberry but didn't head for Christiansburg and the highway.

[ernstbass]

7. his brother was waiting in a car across the street

they took him into custody at 3am Sat.

[Xenotime]

8. What are the gun laws like in your state?

Can people carry guns anywhere?

[ContraBass Black]

9. Open carry for anyone over 21, no licensing required.

[sofa king]

10. Looks like they got him.

It was always surprising to me how little violence there was on the VT campus and surrounding area. Lots of people kept their windows wide open and doors unlocked, especially in August when it's actually hot and not pouring rain. The disenfranchised students there outnumber the voting "locals" by at least five to one, and most of the violence I recall was between those two groups.

"Authorities gave more details of the capture today of William Morva, saying he was found hiding in a briar patch about three-quarters of a mile from the entrance to the Huckleberry Trail and about 150 yards from the scene of this morning's fatal shooting of Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin."

Sadly, I suspect I know Eric Sutphin's family, having briefly gone to high school with many of the Sutphin clan in that area. Blacksburg is a college town, but Christiansburg, right down the road, is a classic Southern Virginian place where everyone knows (and is related to) everyone. His death is going to affect a lot of people there.